Dong-Seon Chang
Alumni of the Department Human Perception, Cognition and Action
Alumni of the Group Recognition and Categorization
Alumni of the Group Social and Spatial Cognition
Main Focus
Action Recognition & Social Interaction
How do people recognize and understand the actions of other humans?
What information do they perceive and collect when they interact together?
Are action recognition processes different across cultures (e.g. Germany vs. Korea)?
In my PhD projects, I tried to answer these questions using Behavioral, Psychophysical and Cross-Cultural approaches. I use motion capture techniques to record human actions, and show these action mapped on 3D, life-sized avatars in a virtual reality (VR) setup. To assess the cognitive and neural processes underlying the representations of actions, we use a high-level action adaptation aftereffect paradigm. We recorded also different social interactions such as greetings or dancing (Salsa or Lindy Hop) to specifically assess how people recognize those actions in interactions. Studies have been conducted in Germany and Korea, to compare to influence of culture on the recognition of actions.
I am also an enthusiastic Science Communicator, trying to spread enthusiasm for science & research to a broad public. I have given more than 60 talks in the form of Science Slams, FameLab events, and TEDx Talks. If you are more interested in this, you can check out my videos online:
https://youtu.be/kRTU9bCdfD4 (German)
https://youtu.be/aNd6NNAg7Tc (English)
https://youtu.be/dfcnlADSuQ4 (English)
Curriculum Vitae
Personal Information
Date of Birth: May 28th, 1980
Place of Birth: Heidelberg, Germany
Nationality: Republic of Korea
Education
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08/2012 |
Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (GER) PhD Student, Dept. of Human Perception, Cognition and Action Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Stephan de la Rosa Thesis Advisors: Prof. Dr. Heinrich H. Bülthoff, Prof. Dr. Martin Giese, Prof. Dr. Kai Vogeley, Dr. Hong Yu Wong |
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10/2006 08/2007 |
Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (GER) MSc, Dept. of Cognitive and Computational Psychophysics Thesis Advisors: Prof. Dr. Heinrich.H. Bülthoff, Dr. John Butler |
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10/1999 08/2007 |
University of Konstanz (GER) MSc in Biology (in collaboration with the MPI for Biol. Cybernetics) Thesis Advisor: Prof. Dr. Giovanni Galizia |
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09/2003 06/2004 |
Rutgers, State University of New Jersey (USA) Visiting Graduate Student, Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science Visual Attention Laboratory, Advisor: Prof. Dr. Zenon Pylyshyn |
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03/1996 02/1999 |
Anyang-Highschool (KOR) |
Work Experience
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03/2011 07/2012 |
DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) IC Seoul (KOR) Project Manager for ADeKo (Alumni Network Germany-Korea) |
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05/2008 05/2011 |
Acupuncture & Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University (KOR) Staff Researcher, Dept. of Oriental Medicine, Medical School Advisors: Prof. Dr. Hyejung Lee, Prof. Dr. Younbyoung Chae |
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08/2004 09/2006 05/2003 08/2003 |
City Hospital Konstanz (GER) MRI Technical Assistant, Dept. of Radiology Advisors: Prof. Dr. Hansjörg Zwicker, Dr. Peter Köhler |
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05/2000 02/2006 |
University of Konstanz (GER) Research Assistant - Dept. of Developmental Psychology and Cross-Cultural Psychology, Advisor: Prof. Dr. Gisela Trommsdorf |
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03/2000 07/2000 |
SIEMENS, GmbH (GER) Technical Assistant for the Development of an Automated Language Recognition Data System, Advisor: Dr. Torsten Caesar |
Selected Awards & Stipends
| 08/2012 present |
PhD Fellowship Stipend of the Max Planck Society |
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05/2014 |
Travel Fellowship Awarded by the Schwarz Foundation for Theoretical Neurobiology to attend the 79th Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology: Cognition Meeting in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA |
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09/2013 |
First Prize Science Slam at the Visions in Science 2013, Max Planck Society's PhDnet Annual Conference for Junior Scientists |
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10/2010 |
Best Presentation Award 2010 Conference of the Korean Society of Stress Medicine |
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06/2007 |
First Prize 2006 Prize Question from the Junge Akademie at the National Academy of Germany (Academy of Sciences Leopoldina) and Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities |
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04/2007 |
Travel Grant for Interdisciplinary College 2007 From the German Association for Cognitive Science (Gesellschaft für Kognitionswissenschaft e. V.) |